Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui - Xidi and Hongcun (2000)

The South Anhui ancient villages, with Xidi and Hongcun as their representatives, are located east of Yixian County, Anhui Province. Xidi measures 13 hectares in area with a history of more than 950 years, and now has 3 ancestral temples, 1 honorific archway and 224 civilian residences dating back to fourteenth century to nineteenth century. Still having preserved typical Ming-Qing ancient village stylish pattern to date, Xidi has the repute of “Living Museum of Ancient Civilian Residences”. First built in 1131, Hongcun now has 137 Ming-Qing ancient buildings existing in it. In 2000, they were inscribed in the “World Cultural Heritage List”.